While Steve’s busily working on Moon 3, I’ve been doing a couple of side projects with the Unseen Shadows guys. The first of these to come out is a one page webcomic called “The Return.”

Bob Kelsey is the tragedy prone freelance journalist of Barry Nugent’s fantasy series and Barry asked a few of us if we’d like to do some short strips about Bob’s tribulations. I drew upon my own battles with terrifying monsters and created this spine chilling tale that was then beautifully illustrated by Jake Rowlingson. Hope you enjoy it.

If you read a lot of British comics then you’re probably familiar with the work of Ant Jones. He’s a lovely chap, a fine writer and a regular at the Bunker convention table. Well, Ant has a new graphic novel project on the go and he needs some funding (via Kickstarter) to get the project off the ground. To assist him in this, he has assembled some of the brightest and best creators of the indy comics scene and then added in two idiots who do a comic about the Moon.

The book in question is called Hood and is a dark, modern retelling of the classic Robin Hood story. It might sound like you’ve heard it before but if you take a look at the team’s wonderful pitch video then you’ll start to get an inkling that they’re doing something a bit different this time.

The deal is simple. You pledge some money towards the completion of the book and you get a variety of goodies in return, one of which is a humble indy bundle containing comics from the likes of Jon Lock, Richard Worth and yes Beyond The Bunker. It’s a collection of books that any self respecting comic fan would love to own anyway but now you can do it in a way that helps another awesome book to come to life.

It’s Demoncon 6 tomorrow! If you’ve not been to Kent’s loveliest comic con (I think it’s Kent’s only comic con but that’s besides the point) then you really should give it a go. This will be our fourth appearance at the event and it honestly gets more fun every time. A relaxed, family atmosphere; a wide range of enjoyable ways to spend a Sunday afternoon and, due to the shocking number of professional writers/artists that live in Kent, a surprisingly top end guest list.

This year will feature the likes of Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy), Cy Dethan (various books that give you nightmares) and a couple of idiots who do a book about the Moon. There are also several new indy book launches, demo games, a raffle where you can win comics and original artwork and an appearance by the mighty 501st legion. In case you need any more persuading, here are three things that we got up to last time out:

1) One of the other artists left early so we stole his table and created the largest Moon booth we’ve ever had which Steve had to staff by himself because I had to play Dr Who with some kids.

2) Somebody asked Steve to draw a sketch of one of the 7 deadly sins so we put our heads together and came up with this interpretation of “Pride” (the look on the lion’s face still cracks me up whenever I look at it).

3) Peter Mason learned the price of lending pens to the Bunker clan as Steve promptly made off with his sharpies, leading to this poster being circulated.

So come on. It’s a Sunday, it’s raining and you’re probably hung over. What else are you going to do today? Housework? Forget that! Your house hates you. Show it who’s boss and come hang out with us in Maidstone.

Demoncon runs from 11am – 5pm at the Royal Star Arcade in Maidstone. Full details here!

I’ve been pretty busy with non-comic gigs for the past couple of months but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t comic projects already in motion. You may remember that a while back I wrote a comic called “Ashfall” for the Unseen Shadows line of books. Well that comic is now coming together nicely and Barry from Unseen Shadows has been kind enough to let me share the first page.

The pencils and inks are by Peter Mason and the colours are by the very talented Darren Brown who joined the project this week. Paul McLaren will be adding letters at a later date (he did Band of Butchers so you know he’s good) and we’re hoping to have the book out in time for Thought Bubble. Anyway, here’s the page and the synopsis for the comic:

Napoleon Stone faces his greatest challenge, as he sets out to hunt down the very man who trained him! For thirty years Nathan Ash was the best in the business but now he’s gone rogue and Napoleon is on his trail with orders to bring the old man in, dead or alive!

Dan Thompson (Band of Butchers, Moon) and Peter Mason (Cancertown 2) bring you a tale of lies, loyalty and left hooks in the latest action-packed comic from the world of Barry Nugent’s best selling Unseen Shadows saga!

Last year’s inaugural London Super Comic Convention proved to be one of the great surprise hits of last year’s con season. In the face of doubts over whether the capital could sustain yet another large con the event confounded expectations and emerged as something genuinely unique and well deserving of any fan’s attention.

The great thing about LSCC is that it is entirely focused on comics. You won’t find big games companies running demos or panels packed with film and tv stars here, instead LSCC have assembled the largest gathering of comic book creators that you’ll find anywhere in the UK. On top of this you’ll find a plethora of dealers and indy publishers ready to introduce you to your new favourite book. It’s like walking around one gigantic comic book shop; unpretentious, low-fi and a lot of fun.

We shall be there this weekend with an arsenal of big Moony wares for you to wrap your mitts around. If you missed the Moon launch then this will be your first chance to pick up Moon #2 and if you want to introduce a friend to the book then we’ll be running a special bundle deal on both issues for new readers. In addition we’ve got a few of the ever popular Moon prints (guaranteed to protect you from falling Russian asteroids) and a whole bundle of badges. Steve will be on hand to do sketches and discuss commissions and I will be doing whatever it is that writers do at conventions (handing you your change, doing coffee runs, rescuing Steve from security when he forgets his pass etc).

It’s been ages since we were last in London so please drop by and let us know how it’s going. You can find us at table C43 as shown on this fine annotated map produced by the lovely Michael Georgiou (be sure to check out his new graphic novel “Just Exhale” which launches at the show).

You can pre-order tickets and see a full line up of guests at the LSCC website.

The fifth Demoncon convention takes place in Maidstone on 17th March and as has become tradition some of the UK’s best indy comic artists have gotten together to produce bespoke posters. This year however the posters feature somebody that fans of the bunker may be a little familiar with.

The first is this amazing bit of work from Grant Perkins with Inks by Tom Schloendorn and colours by Nadine Ashworth. There is no way I’m not buying one of these when I get to the con, it’s an amazing bit of work. Grant is taking commissions at the moment so get hold of him on twitter if you want a fine piece like this in your home.

The second poster comes courtesy of Phil Buckenham and is all the more amazing for the fact that he did pencils, inks and colours by himself. It’s another great bit of art and Moon seems very happy with the company he’s in. Just look at his beaming face.

The real question is, of course, how many of the characters in both posters can you name?

It’s 11pm the day after Moon Launch and I’m just about getting over the hangover. Suffice it to say it was an amazing night and I feel very proud to have played a small part in it. We shall endeavour to post up some photos as soon as possible but in the mean time I thought I’d chuck up some details of the real stars of the show, the acts.

We opened the night with Patsy & Tim, also known as master puppeteer Laura Bacon and musician Tim Berryman. Their cover of the Pokemon theme was easily one of the highlights of the entire night and they had everyone in hysterics for their entire set.

We kept the comedy going with a barnstorming performance by musical comedy duo, Cold Callers. Ryan and Paul played at the first Moon Launch and were good enough to dust off the official Moon theme song one more time.

You can follow the boys on twitter, listen to some of their songs again on myspace and you should most certainly check out their podcast on itunes.

For me one of the real highlights of the night turned out to be blues singer, JD Smith whose set caused me to dash outside and demand all the smokers drop their fags and come listen. If I can find a good quality youtube video then I’ll sling one up on the site but for now you can listen to some of his fantastic music on his myspace.

He likes Garth Ennis too which is always a plus.

The night was rounded off by the reggae sounds of John Blood and the Highlys. The band were good enough to step in on very short notice and were superb from start to finish. The perfect end to an eclectic night of music.

If you want to catch more of John Blood and the Highlys then you can do so on their website.

And just to round it off, here’s one of their videos:

Thanks again to everyone who came, we hope you had a fantastic time and that you enjoy the comic. If you weren’t able to make it then don’t fret, the book will be available to buy on line in the next few days.